Leading 3-year-old Oxbow, this year’s Preakness (G1) hero by Awesome Again, has been retired and will stand at Taylor Made Stallions for the 2014 breeding season.

“We are absolutely thrilled and very appreciative that Calumet Farm has made the decision to stand Oxbow at Taylor Made, along with their plans to support his stallion career,” said Ben Taylor, Vice President of Taylor Made Stallions. “To us, Oxbow is the classic, two-turn dirt horse that both the breeders and yearling buyers look for. He was a major contender in every Triple Crown race and is one of the toughest horses I’ve seen in some time.”

Campaigned by Calumet Farm, Oxbow broke his maiden by 4 ¾ lengths while sprinting as a 2-year-old at Churchill Downs. He then went on a run of nine straight graded stakes starts – six Grade 1s – at seven different racetracks in seven different states, and six different distances. The talented colt became a leading contender on the 2013 Kentucky Derby trail after a front-running, 11 ½-length victory in the LeComte S. (G3) at Fair Grounds in his 3-year-old debut.

Bridgett, I also hate to see horses this young and this good retired. But if the colt is too injured to race, I would rather see the retirement than a potential breakdown. As Kait said, it was pretty obvious something was really off with him in the Haskell. Maybe it turned out to be something he could not recover from enough to be racing sound.

i actually agree with the retirement. they care a lot for this horse, & something was obviously wrong in the Haskell. i don't think these connections would retire him if they believed he could regain his normal form.